


I Only Speak Flower

by Akinasky



Series: SterekBingo 2019 [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Actually researched Flowers for this, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Because Alphas Killing Everyone is Stupid, Derek Speaks Flower, Flower Language, It's Derek, M/M, Researching Stiles, Sterek Bingo, Sterek Bingo 2019, Stiles Learns About Flowers, Stiles Likes Getting Flowers, Stiles has a Secret Admirer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-25 22:48:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18711250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akinasky/pseuds/Akinasky
Summary: Stiles starts receiving flowers and notes from a Secret Admirer and he learns about flowers to see who it could be. Even in the end he is surprised.





	I Only Speak Flower

The first time it happened, it was three flowers sitting on the hood of the Jeep when he came out of school. There was a card attached and Stiles didn’t know enough about flowers to even call it by name so he took it with him as he got into the jeep and opened the small card.

_‘Dear Stiles, these are daffodils and I didn’t know how to say what they so easily say. Daffodils symbolize chivalry because you are one of the bravest people I have ever known and new beginnings which is something that I would like for the two of us some day. From your secret admirer.’_

Stiles figured it was strange for someone to give a guy flowers but he didn’t mind the straying from gender norms. He’d been known to give flat screen tv’s to someone he liked. It was nice to be noticed by someone else.

Plus, he should do some research and see what else there was to daffodils and who would be sending them to him. And because his best friend is basically a worrywart, Stiles decided not to tell Scott, he would just start sniffing around and ruin this.

He found out that something that wasn’t mentioned was that daffodils could me unrequited love and Stiles knew enough about unrequited love that it made him instantly enamored and impressed at the braveness of the person sharing their feelings with him even though they weren’t ready to step out into the light with him.

Stiles would give them time, whoever they are.

The next time it was a bundle of two different colors of the same flower. Again, Stiles didn’t know the actual flower. Again, the card was attached to the six flowers. Three lavender and three white. The bundle was on the porch when Stiles came home from school, so he took them inside and opened the card before he even dropped his school bag.

_‘Heather, Lavender means admiration which I feel deeply for you. It symbolizes solitude which I am currently living in and I would like to keep learning how to tell you how I feel. White Heather is wishes will come true. I would try to see your wishes come true. From Your Secret Admirer.’_

After the first time, Stiles was sure that there were other meanings as well. He put the flowers into a vase in the kitchen as he grabbed his laptop and started searching Heather, white and lavender. Stiles was sure that the person wasn’t going to use the more neutral or negative connotations of the flowers but one other interesting thing he found was that lavender also symbolized beauty and wondered if his Secret Admirer didn’t mention than because he didn’t believe it. And white also meant protection, Stiles wouldn’t mind someone who cared enough to protect him and helped him with his wishes coming true.

The third time, it was a dozen peonies which he knew on sight because he’d been learning a lot about flowers in the past couple weeks since the first ones were found on his jeep. They were tucked into his locker just before the end of the day. Stiles looked around then decided again that he didn’t care what people thought and looked at the note.

_‘Dear Stiles, I hope you can appreciate this message because though I have wanted to come forward, I am still scared of how you will feel when you discover who I am. I wanted the peonies to share the bashfulness with you but also compassion because I know you have gone through so much and you deserve compassion and a happy life. I hope I will have a chance to be a part of it. From Your Secret Admirer.’_

Stiles hoped he would get the chance to meet the Secret Admirer, this person is sweet and giving, full of feelings and is finding a way to share them even though they clearly are struggling to say it out loud or be recognized by someone.

“Hey bud, whatcha got there?” Scott asked as he walked over to the lockers.

Stiles showed him, “Some flowers from a Secret Admirer.”

Scott sniffed carefully around the flowers and hummed, “Can’t smell much beyond the flower and you know ‘teenagers’.”

“I don’t think ‘teenagers’ is actually an official scent.”

Scott snorted, “Trust me, it is and it’s disgusting.”

Stiles held his hands up in surrender and grabbed the rest of his stuff before heading to the front of the door of the school. Scott followed him, still sniffing in his werewolf way and it was distracting and completely _not subtle._ Stiles ignored him, heading towards the jeep and putting the flowers and his bag inside.

“Stiles, are you sure this is a good idea? Getting involved with a stranger, when our lives are supernaturally cursed?”

Stiles shrugged, “I don’t know but you know what Scott? I deserve to have someone admire me. You always have everyone fawning over you and I have spent most of my life fawning over other people.”

With that, Stiles got into the jeep and drove away. He knew that Scott wouldn’t get it, being a werewolf gave him everything and Scott didn’t even really get it.

He went home and added the flowers to the vase in the kitchen, putting the note with the other ones that he’d received. He put more water in the vase and sat down to do his homework. He was about three quarters done when someone knocked on the door. Stiles frowned as he stood and walked over to the door and opened it to see Derek.

“Derek, what are you doing here?”

“Hey Stiles, I was hoping you might be able to help me with something?”

Stiles shrugged, “If I can. I will.”

“There is some work I would like to do on the new Hale house, with the landscaping and I was hoping you could help me with some research. Maybe some herbs that would be good, or trees?”

Stiles nodded, “That would be awesome, I’ll do some research and bring it to the next pack meeting, okay?”

“Sure,” Derek said with a wavery smile. He handed over some papers, probably for the house which he’d spent the last six months working on every second he could with the help of the pack members; Erica, Isaac and Boyd were awesome with Derek and after Jennifer destroyed most of the Alpha Pack, it had left Ethan and Aiden looking for something to do. Cora would probably also be at the pack meeting and Scott went sometimes but mostly to be passive aggressive and sort of helpful.

Stiles was thrilled that he was still allowed to come after all the times Scott had been a pain in the ass at the meetings.

Derek nodded once more, “Thank you for the help Stiles.”

Stiles smiled, “Sure.”

With the possibility of helping the Hale pack in front of him, Stiles pushed away the research about the Secret Admirer because he wasn’t going to let Derek down when the SourWolf was so bad at asking for help. The meeting was a week away and Stiles had a lot of learning about trees and herbs and plants, not to mention the care they would require and if there was going to be any side effects for the werewolves.

So when he came out of school three days later on a Friday and walked towards the jeep with his head in a book, he didn’t even notice anything was different or wrong until he opened his door and a couple flowers fell out onto the cement of the parking lot and the wave of rose smell wafted over Stiles and he looked up.

Promptly dropping the book and the ground he stared at the mass of roses in a bunch of different colors all over his driver seat, in the passenger seat and across the back as well. He’d never seen that many flowers in one place outside a florist shop.

“Holy fuck,” he whispered and leaned down to pick up the books and flowers that landed on the ground and started throwing them off the driver seat. Looking for the card and at the same time, making it possible for him to get in and drive.

“Damn Stilinski, someone has it bad for you!” Erica said as she walked by and winking. Stiles stopped and wondered if it was here but she wasn’t the type for gestures. Erica was more the type to throw you down and just have her way with whoever she wanted.

Plus, she was stupidly committedly and obsessively in love with Boyd.

Sties went back to looking for the card and found nothing. He didn’t know what to think about that, this was the grandest of the flower gestures that he’d ever seen in his life and that was after his own obsessive love for Lydia Martin.

Finally, he was able to get in, took pictures of all the flowers before he started the drive home. Whoever did this had gone to a lot of effort to get all the flowers in here and though Stiles really wanted to count them and see what the different colors were, he was a little leery about that process. He kind of just wanted to go to a grave site and start putting them on lonely graves.

He parked in front of his house and looked around at the mounds of flowers then pressed his head to the steering wheel, feeling exhausted just _thinking_ about getting them all out of here.

There was a knock at the window and Stiles looked over to see Derek who was frowning at the mass of flowers and Stiles he was seeing. Stiles quickly got out of the car and pounced, “Hey do you think you could help me with these?”

“Sure, what do you want to do with them?” Derek asked.

“Well I want to see how many there are of each color and all together but I can’t keep all these, I was thinking of going down to the grave and putting them on some stones.”

Derek frowned but nodded, “I think that’s a really nice thing to do. Where did you get them?”

“Secret Admirer,” Stiles shrugged, already reopening the door and started pulling all of them out, taking note of each color. There were blue, green, white, lavender, red, yellow, two different kinds of pink, orange and that’s not where they ended. Stiles goggled at the Rainbow roses as well as the white roses with blue edges, there were yellow roses with red edges and finally white roses with red edges.

“I can’t believe someone did all this for me,” Stiles whispered when they finally got the piles sorted by color which wasn’t uniform either.

“I can,” Derek muttered but Stiles didn’t hear him.

“There are different quantities, do you think that’s important?” Stiles asked.

“I’m going to bet on ‘yes’,” Derek said so they started counting.

Stiles got ready to write numbers next to each color which he wrote out on one of his steno pads while taking pictures with his phone. He might not be willing to see all these flowers gather dust on his living room counter but that didn’t mean he didn’t appreciate the literal _Grand Gesture_ of this.

God, he hoped his Secret Admirer wasn’t Jackson, the other lacrosse player was a good-looking man but ugh to the rest of him and Stiles had heard a rumor that he was coming back to town for their senior year.

Stiles just didn’t know very many people with the coin required for this kind of gesture.

“Okay, so some of the easier ones were,” Derek started as he pointed out the smaller piles. “Six of the blue roses, seven of those light green ones, 13 of the yellow roses, not the ones with the colored edges. Just yellow was 13.” Stiles nodded and took that down while Derek moved onto the next pile.

“After yellow is the pink but there seems to be fourteen of each the light pink and the dark pink,” Stiles made the note, wondering what he was going to learn about the difference in the shades of pink. “There is nineteen of the orange. Thirty-three of the white, 40 of the lavender.”

“Surprised you didn’t just say purple,” Stiles muttered, though he didn’t stop to think about it.

“The color is lavender, I grew up with sisters and a mother plus our eye sight isn’t just for seeing things far away, that’s lavender.”

Stiles shrugged, “No offense intended FlowerWolf.”

Derek growled at that before he continued the counts, “There are ninety-nine of the red roses, I don’t need to know how expensive that was,” he huffed. “Last are the specialty roses; thirty of the Rainbow Roses, eleven of the white with blue edges, twenty-one of the yellow with red edge and 50 of the white roses with red edge. Got a lot of red aspects in there; do you know what it means?”

“Nope, but I’m going to find out. After we take some of these to the grave and maybe some of them to the deputies at my dad’s station, they work so hard and rarely get any recognition. How many was that all together anyway?”

Derek answered, “357 roses.”

Stiles wrote down the number just in case it was important before they started divvying up the flowers. Stiles took some of them inside for himself to keep, and bringing out some string and tissue to wrap the flowers in, ignoring Derek’s soft smile.

They packaged up enough flowers for all the of the lady deputies and a bunch of bouquets for the gravesites before they headed out in the jeep with all of the flowers tucked in the back and the trunk with fresh garbage bags laid out to protect them.

Derek and Stiles were both kissed and hugged by sobbing deputies and finally released to go to the grave. Stiles delivered a special bouquet to his mother’s grave first saying, “I miss you mom and I am always going to love you.”

Derek waited by the jeep while he was doing this then they found as many children and mothers and fathers to put flowers on, hoping that someone would know that they cared. Stiles waited a moment at each headstone and read the words carefully, saying a little private eulogy, for those he knew and for those he didn’t.

When they were almost done and Stiles was holding the last bouquet, he turned to Derek and handed it to him. Derek stared at him in confusion, “I wanted to save one of the bouquets for your family but I didn’t know where to look for them, I know you’ve lost so much Derek but you don’t have to be alone and you don’t have to pretend not to feel. It’s okay to miss them and it’s okay to say goodbye more than once.”

Derek nodded, “Thank you. The Hale’s actually have a private mausoleum, I’ll take these over to them and meet you back at the car?”

Stiles nodded and watched Derek walk away before he headed back to the jeep which still smelled faintly of roses and Derek, a weirdly sweet combination and just waited.

When Derek returned, his eyes were a little red like he’d been crying but Stiles didn’t say anything before he headed back to the Stilinski house, filling the silence and sharing the different flowers he’d already received and the notes that went along with them.

“It was strange to get such a gesture and not have one of the notes, I missed it.”

Derek hummed, “I’m sure there’s a reason. Maybe you just have to find it.”

Stiles nodded, dropped Derek off next to the Camaro and went home to look everything up. Thankfully it was Friday and he didn’t have to go to sleep anytime soon.

He found the significance of the color of roses and the number, sniffling a little as he read through each of them. The specialty roses didn’t necessarily have a special meaning because they didn’t happen naturally but the Rainbow Roses, there were thirty of them which suggests that the person giving the roses is promising or representing faithfulness. It might not be a sexy thing but is was a beautiful sentiment.

Stiles couldn’t believe the work the Secret Admirer had put into this and not come forward, maybe they just didn’t know how he would feel but to be courted like this, it was mesmerizing and it at least guaranteed the person a chance to be heard out, go out for dinner and talk.

After learning all the details and making notes next to each number and color, he went back to making sure he had everything ready for the Pack meeting that Derek asked him to look into. He’d done most of it but he wanted to make sure the power point presentation was ready.

And whenever he felt lonely or unsure of himself, he looked over at the overflowing bouquet of roses he’d kept for himself and smiled.

 

The day of the Pack meeting came and Stiles headed over to Derek’s loft where they were meeting and walked up the stairs with his book bag, portable projector screen and unit (shut up everyone should have one) and his cellphone in hand.

He got to Derek’s floor and the door was already open so he just wandered in and started getting everything set up. He shrugged the projector screen down off his shoulder and half tuned into what people were talking about.

“I just think that being a werewolf should afford you some rights to do stupid things when you know someone has a crush on you. I mean _we know_ because of our noses.”

“Since we don’t tell people that we are werewolves, I don’t see how being one is a point for the conversation,” Isaac responded haughtily. He was wearing one of those pretentious scarves that he loved so much, but to be fair he looked very attractive in them.

Stiles grinned, thinking of all the times before Erica and Boyd settled into whatever they were doing and Erica would just leap on a guy or a girl because she just loved sex and wanted it. A lot.

“I once had a crush on someone so I filled their car with roses and waited for them to find them.”

Stiles stopped and jerked around, “Wait what? That was you? You’re the Secret Admirer?”

Erica pressed a finger to her nose, as if to declare that Stiles was ‘on the nose’ but he was still staring at Derek who pulled something out from behind his back, a small vase with two flowers: a red one and a white one.

“Chrysanthemum, red for love and white for truth and loyal love. I know that this is kind of strange but my pack did so much to help me with this endeavor that I kind of wanted them to be here when I told you.”

Stiles stared, mouth ajar and making little ‘wha’ sounds in the back of his throat. Then he shook it off and looked around the room, “Why didn’t you tell me when we were passing out the roses.”

“You were giving them away, I thought maybe I’d done something really stupid and I just wanted to help you clean it up. Also, you are very good at masking your scent, Stiles, I didn’t know how you felt and I still don’t. Sometimes a werewolf is just a guy standing in front of another guy saying that he’s in love with him—in flowers. And now words.”

“Fuck,” Stiles said before he could stop himself. He slapped his head when Derek frowned and wilted a little. “Sorry, that’s not what I meant. I don’t know what I mean to say but seriously if this meeting and everything I just researched for it was a hoax, I am going to be pissed.”

Derek put down the flowers in his hand and waved in treaty, “It wasn’t a trick or hoax or anything. I am working on the house and I was hoping to work on the area around the house with your help.” Derek paused and smiled a little, “Did you make a power point presentation?”

“Well yeah, I didn’t want it to be all over the place and hard to understand.”

“I love it, can we watch it now? Can you share it now then we can talk about the possibility of us later?”

Stiles frowned at the genuine happiness at the thought of seeing a power point presentation and his chest grew warm and he said, “No.”

Derek deflated and the other betas groaned and he replayed the statement and groaned.

“No, that’s not what I meant. What I meant was—oh screw it,” Stiles said as he dropped everything, crossed the short space of the room and pressed a kiss to Derek’s mouth. Derek immediately wrapped his strong arms and kissed him back. Stiles didn’t let it get to far before he pulled back, “Okay, that’s better, we can do the presentation now and then as much as I love your betas, they can leave.”

The betas laughed and Derek helped Stiles set everything up and they got through the presentation and the betas left, the door barely closing before Stiles pressed Derek against the wall and kissed him again, “Did you mean everything? All the flowers and the sentiments?”

“Yes,” Derek whispered and kissed him again.

“Good, because I am going to date you so hard and this is going to be the greatest thing ever.” Stiles kissed Derek again, pressing his hands to Derek’s sides sneaking under his shirt to feel skin. Hot skin, he thought with a shudder.

“You’re not mad about the roses?” Derek panted.

“God no,” Stiles said and pressed a kiss to Derek’s cheek, “I just hated the idea of them just sitting on my counter and all over the house. I hope _you’re_ not mad.”

Derek smiled, “Your kindness and thinking about other people is one of the best things about you.”

“Oh,” Stiles husked and pressed another kiss to Derek’s lips. “You know I would like to go on an actual date, right? Maybe even Senior Prom together and all that?”

Derek smiled, “Done and done, let’s go look at all the information you brought over and making out on the couch.”

“Yes!” Stiles said, pleased that for once what he said out loud was exactly right.

Someday when they got married, way far down the line, Stiles was going to fill the Camaro with rose to repay Derek. He was going to have to start saving now though.

 

 ~~~~~~~~~~

And for your delight - this is what the numbers and the colors of roses mean since I didn't want to list them all in the story. :) 

 

 **6 Roses**  – signifies ‘I want to be yours’. If you’re dating someone and wish to take your relationship to the next level, gifting them with six roses is the perfect way to subtly express those feelings.

 **Blue Roses** : A perfectly blue rose is still elusive like the perfectly black rose. Blue roses cannot be achieved naturally so they represent the unattainable or the mysterious. Blue roses therefore embody the desire for the unattainable. They say  **"I can't have you but I can't stop thinking about you"**

 **7 Roses**  – when considering the meaning of roses, this quantity signifies infatuation. **Green roses** : Green is the color of harmony, of opulence, of fertility. It is also a color indicative of peace and tranquility. Green roses (these are off-white roses with shades of green) can symbolize  **best wishes for a prosperous new life or wishes for recovery of good health**

 **13 Roses**  – the meaning of roses when presented in the number 13 can either symbolize eternal friendship or a secret admirer.

 **Yellow Roses** : Yellow roses are an expression of exuberance. Yellow roses evoke sunny feelings of joy, warmth and welcome. They are  **symbols of friendship and caring**. The yellow rose, like the other roses, does not carry an undertone of romance. It indicates purely platonic emotions.

 **14 Roses x 2 Light pink and a Dark pink**  – if you’re proud of someone, 14 roses are the number to choose.

 **Pink Roses** : There are a lot of variations of the pink rose. Over all, pink roses are used to  **convey gentle emotions such as admiration, joy and gratitude**. Light pink rose blooms are indicative of sweetness and innocence. Deep pink rose blooms convey deep gratitude and appreciation. Pink roses also connote elegance and grace.

 **19 Roses**  – the number of roses to give someone you plan to wait for.

 **Orange Roses** : While a yellow rose reminds us of the sun, an orange rose reminds us of a fiery blaze. These fiery blooms  **signify passion and energy**. Orange roses can be used to express intense desire, pride and fervor. They also convey a sense of fascination. These flowers rival only the red roses as messengers of passion in romance.

 **33 Roses**  – signifies affection.

 **White Roses** : White flowers can be used to convey sympathy or humility. They also are indicative of spirituality. Hence, white roses also follow suit.

 **40 Roses**  – if you hold a genuine love for a special someone, this is the number to choose.

 **Lavender Roses** : A Lavender rose like its color conveys enchantment. It also  **expresses "love at first sight"**. Darker shades of lavender roses (close to purple) convey a sense of regal majesty and splendor. These roses are used to express fascination and adoration.

 **99 Roses**  – want to let a special someone know you’ll love you till the day you die? Give them a bouquet containing 99 single rose stems.

 **Red Roses** : A red rose is an unmistakable expression of love.  **Red roses convey deep emotions**  - be it love, longing or desire. Red Roses can also be used to convey respect, admiration or devotion. 12 red roses are the most popular of all which conveys "Be mine" and "I love you"

 **11 Roses**  – ‘you are my treasured one’. **White Roses with Blue Tipped Edges**

 **21 Roses**  – show your commitment with a bouquet of 21 roses. **Yellow Roses with a Red Edge**

 **30 Roses**  – this quantity suggests faith and faithfulness. **Rainbow Roses**

 **50 Roses**  – unconditional love. **White Roses with Red Edges**

 

**Author's Note:**

> I love comments, please if you feel you need to correct something at least add something you liked about the fic too.


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